Rugby Club Zug Xmas Dinner 2011

This report of our Christmas dinner will be slightly shorter than originally planned. This is mainly due to the fact that there is no-one who can remember exactly what happened…..

Arriving at the restaurant it was clear a great night was ahead of us. Downstairs from the main restaurant was the newly refurbished bar which was lit perfectly with candles and really set the vibe for the evening. After an hour of mulled wine and beers we made the move up to the main restaurant.

The night kicked off with a welcome speech from Elio & Denis. As there were many awards to get through, the proceedings kicked off with a few trophies. First award of the night was for Best Alternative Player which went to a very deserving Damian for his services as prop. The second award was for Best Tackle which went to one of our new players Jason. The third award was The Bulldozer Award which went to Roman.

The last award before the meal and main speeches was a special one “The Boobie Beer Award”. This is for drinking services and could only go to one person……Big Antoine, but before he could take his trophy he was handed a pint of beer and had to down it in one. We did not have to ask him twice……under four seconds it was gone!

Dinner commenced and the wine began to flow. After the starters had been demolished a surprise soup course was brought out. Both were really good and set things up nicely for the main course.  The detail that had gone into the preparation of the chicken (stuffed with sundried tomatoes & cheese) and also the homemade meatloaf, showed why Restaurant Schiff is one of the best places in Zug to eat. Once the main course was finished and the tables cleared, the main speeches got underway.

First up was the clubs President, Sebastien Le Page. After a few kind words about the club he presented Alois with the Best Player trophy. A very emotional (or drunk depending who you ask) Alois graciously accepted the award and said that it was only thanks to the team that he was able to win. The next award was for a very special person. The Life-Time Achievement award went to Beat ‘Fanti’. It had been difficult keeping this award secret in the weeks building up to the event but it was all worth it to see the look of surprise on his face. He was genuinely moved by the award and received a five minute standing ovation. There was not a dry eye in the house as he collected the trophy and in true ‘Fanti’ style said that it was for the club and not him.

Next up was our beloved coach ‘Fanti’. He began with the training awards (1^st place was Denis, joint second was Little Antoine & Tommy and 3^rd place was Damian). Then he moved onto the trophy for Most Kicks (Little Antoine) and Most Trys (Seb Varey, who unfortunately could not be there on the night). The last part of his speech was for the news players, who were each called up one by one to receive a RC Zug polo shirt. Finally he unveiled a new design training shirt for some of the teams main players.

Then came by far, the best speech of the night, from our trainer Mark Newman. He presented the award for Best New Player (which went to a very humble Bogdan) and also Best Tackler which went to Simon ‘the beast’. Then after various humorous anecdotes he called up a few core team players to join him in downing a beer.

 Then a drunk Claudio stepped up for the Captains Speech. He honoured a dedicated member of the club with the Most Committed Player trophy. Claudio told a few funny stories about the time Denis has spent in the club…….none of which can be repeated here. 

 The final speech of the night was from Ian on behalf of the Minis. He gave a summary of what a great season they are having and talked about the growth of the minis team. They are now the second largest minis team in the whole of Switzerland and with our growing juniors team and also the clubs work with the canton of Zug at grass routes level (our Rugby4Schools programme) the future of Rugby in Zug and within the club looks very promising.

 As the speeches came to an end, the desserts were brought round. Without even asking beforehand the restaurant had organized a giant cake which was made to look like a huge rugby field and even had our logo on it. Also they had done hundreds of home made Lebkuchen.

 The last thing left to do was give out the raffle prizes (of which there were loads). By this point, the evening was running about one hour behind. To save some time and mainly because he was drunk, Denis was just asking people what ticket numbers they had and then search for the corresponding number in the tombola. As per usual RC Zug tradition the prizes varied from candles to champagne to cat food to potatoes and even some hand engraved crystal glasses. Thank-you to those people who brought gifts for the raffle.

 Once the raffle was over everyone returned downstairs once again to continue the drunkard fun. The 80’s playlist had everyone dancing till about 4am. A few of the hardcore drinkers moved onto another bar and had a ‘lock-in’ till well past seven in the morning. This is the last thing anyone can remember.

 Drunk Of The Night award goes to Ronnie………closely followed by our President.

 

Summary of Awards

**** Drunk of the Night = Ronnie Staub ****

Best Player = Alois Dober

Captains Trophy/Most Committed = Denis Kaya

Life Time Achievement = Beat Iten

Training 1^st = Denis Kaya

Training 2^nd = Thomas Styger

Training 2^nd = Antoine Koeltgen

 Training 3^rd = Damian Henggeler

Best New Player = Bogdan Dinu

Most Trys = Sebastien Varey

Most Kicks = Antoine Koeltgen

Alternative Player = Damian Henggeler

Bull Dozer Award = Roman Merz

Best Tackler = Simon Merz

Best Tackle = Jason Hammond

Boobie Beer Prize = Antoine Carassus

Overall the night had an air of magic about it, and it was great to have old and new players together. The attendance was phenomenal (almost 100), and as we had planned for about 60, the restaurant dealt with it very well. The club would like to thank the Restaurant Schiff & their staff for the amazing food and also making the night really feel like we were in our own club house.

A special thanks to Elio and Denis for organizing such a wonderful evening…..they definitely deserve a few beers.

RC Zug

wichtige Infos Spielerversammlung/Players meeting

Liebe Freunde/dear friends

1. Xmas Dinner findet dieses Jahr am 10. Dezember im Restaurant Schiff in Zug statt.
Anmeldung bis 1. Dezember.
Xmas Dinner will be held this year on 10 December in the restaurant "Schiff" in Zug.Sign up to 1. December.

2. Fitnesstraining startet am Freitag 18. November 19.00-21.00 (Mountain Training, Grienbachstrasse 15 in Zug)
Gym training starts on Friday 18th November 19:00 to 21:00 (Mountain Training, Grienbachstrasse 15 in Zug)

3.  Six Nations Tour findet dieses Jahr vom 24.2.-27.2. 2012 in Edinburgh (SCO) statt. Infos folgen.
Six Nations tour will take place from 24.2.-27.2. 2012 in Edinburgh (SCO). Informations to follow.

4. Weihnachstsaktion für bedürftige Kinder in Rumänien. Paket bitte an Elio bis 2. Dezember abgeben. Xmas action for children in Romania. Please give package until 2. December to Elio.

RCZ wirbt für guten Zweck

Die Rumänien-Hilfe Wegenstetten ist eine kleine Non-Profit Organisation im Kanton Aargau, welche jedes Jahr «Weihnachtspäckli» für arme und Waisen-Kinder im Nordosten von Rumänien sammelt und diese auch persönlich dort vorbei bringt. Jeder weiss, wie sehr Kinder auf die Grösse und Inhalt von Paketen achten – dies ist in Rumänien nicht anders. Deshalb wünscht sich die RHW, dass das Päckli eine Post-Pac-Nr. 1 Schachtel ist, welche mit Geschenkpapier verpackt ist und folgende Dinge enthält: 2 Tafeln Schoggi, 1 Pack Farbstifte, 1 Seife, 1 Plüschtier und irgend etwas das von Herzen kommt, um das Päckli zu füllen.


Der Rugby Club Zug hält diese Aktion für eine gute Sache und möchte sie unterstützen. Wir werden mithelfen Päckli zu sammeln und um sie dann am 3. Dezember nach Wegenstetten zu bringen, von wo aus sie noch am selben Tag ihre Reise nach Rumänien antreten werden.

Wir würden uns sehr freuen, wenn es uns unsere Fans und Freunde gleich tun würden und ein Päckli für ein Kind in Rumänien «packen» würden.

Infos zur Rumänien-Hilfe Wegenstetten findet ihr hier: http://www.rumaenienhilfe.ch

RC Würenlos vs RC Zug

Final Score: RC Würenlos 19  – RC Zug 9

We arrived in Würenlos with a large squad knowing that this was going to be a hard game. Earlier on in the season we lost against them in the last few moments of the match 16-10. The game started with Würenlos on the offensive and with the weather looking good we were set for a decent match.

A brilliant early try from Bogdan (still no-one can tackle him) gave the team the moral boost we needed, but it was not long till Würenlos responded with a try of their own.

In the second half we made some substitutions and kept pushing hard.

Greg (our fastest player) made a wonderful run along the wing and was home clean for a try, but unluckily the ball slipped out of his grasp.

Then things started getting interesting as we received two yellow cards. You might think that this was for a high tackle or perhaps another unsporting action, but no it was for being offside. Even the coach from Würenlos shouted at the referee for these decisions! So we were down to 13 players which did not make things easy. Then the referee starting giving yellow cards to Würenlos (probably to even things up). This just brought both teams closer together and various comments could be heard from the crowd such as “Hey Referee, he passed the ball, give him a yellow card”.

Towards the end of the match, a forward from Würenlos broke our back line and was clear for a try, then out of nowhere he got taken out. The sound of the hit echoed throughout the spectators followed by a large ‘oooh’. People in the crowd were wondering “was it a bird, was it a plane or was it superman”……..no it was Jason with the tackle of the game!!

 I think it is fair to say that Würenlos where the stronger team on the day, but Zug felt that we deserved a bonus point. Unfortunately we were 3 points away from the ‘7 point window’. The score could have been much higher, but Zug kept up the defence till the bitter end.

A few players deserve a special mention Greg, Jason, Roman, Ian, Victor, Goran, Alois, Little Antoine and Eugene for their great skills in the match.

A special thanks to Andreas and Raffi for coming but did not get a chance to play.

Anyone can have a bad day at the office and we would also like to thank the referee for apologizing to us after the match for his mistakes.

Thank-you to Würenlos for hosting the match and we wish them luck with their games for the rest of the season. We look forward to seeing them again at the summer tournaments in 2012.

RC Zug